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BY ELENA CHOPYAK

In print | Published January 24, 2008 — Updated December 03, 2008 23:12

In an e-mail sent to students on Dec. 12, 2007, Swarthmore President Al Bloom announced the college’s decision to replace all loans with grants next year. According to “A Brief Primer on Financial Aid at Swarthmore College” for 2007-2008, the average loan component of an individual financial aid package is $2,295.

With the new financial aid policy, this component will no longer be the student’s responsibility and will be replaced with additional scholarship money.

Making the Decision

The change in financial aid policy, which was decided upon earlier than had been expected, was announced around the same time that other top-notch institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard University and Yale University, stated their intent to increase their financial aid offerings. The college’s decision will affect all incoming students as well as the current classes of 2011, 2010 and 2009, but will not be implemented retroactively.

“The Board [of Managers], hearing a report on the possibilities from the President at the December meeting, determined that the decision should be made [in December] rather than [at] its February meeting,” said Vice President Maurice Eldridge ’61. "Board and administration felt at the time that getting ahead of the campus planning process might not be the best way to go. Nevertheless, the discussion at the Board meeting was an impassioned one that came to consensus on doing “the right thing and doing it right away.”

Dean of Admissions Jim Bock ‘90 added that the decision was collectively supported by the President’s staff and board.

Independence of the Decision

Publications such as The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer have taken note of prestigious colleges’ expansion of financial aid offerings, including Swarthmore, Harvard, Princeton University and Yale’s recent changes.

Financial Aid Director Laura Talbot said that although the college’s Board of Managers’ meeting to discuss the new policy was held on the same Saturday as Harvard’s Board of Managers’ meeting, Harvard’s decision to change its financial aid policy held no bearing on the college’s decision. “Some of the things Harvard has been doing, we’ve been doing for a number of years,” Talbot said, citing the college’s reduction of the influence of house equity when calculating financial aid. “We gear the [financial aid] review to each family. It is not a push-button answer.”

Eldridge also pointed to the already generous financial aid packages that the college has offered. “It’s about doing the best we can for students,” Talbot said. “Financial aid is one of the first things that is discussed,” Talbot added.

However, Eldridge did acknowledge the competition first tier schools face in attracting students. “The timing of the decision makes it possible to implement it in time for the incoming class but of course does not ignore the competitive arena that admissions is,” Eldridge said in an e-mail.

Misperceptions and Effects

According to Talbot, the wording of the college’s press release title, “Swarthmore Eliminates Loans in Financial Aid Awards,” caused some alarm among families who receive loans and who thought that the loans were being eradicated without further aid. Rather than “eliminating” loans, the college pledges to replace all loans with scholarships as a part of an extended financial aid package to benefit the students enrolled during the 2008-2009 academic year and beyond.

Talbot said that currently 750 students receive financial aid, and one-third of the student body does not have any loans. Talbot estimated that approximately 500 students will benefit from the new no-loan policy.

Talbot also said that since the lowest income families were already protected from having to take out loans prior to the financial aid change, much of the remaining aided population belongs to middle income brackets.

According to Talbot, the cost of the new policy reaches 1.7 million dollars. This cost “will come from a combination of using money from the endowment and gifts, not other students’ fees and tuition.” Talbot said that students who take out loans face, on average, a debt of approximately $13,000.

Hopes and Goals

Bock hopes that the new financial aid policy will provide more choices to students so that they may take an internship or choose an abroad experience after graduation, rather than feeling as though they must work immediately to pay off their loans.

“My perception was that I had to work after graduation,” Bock said, noting that he finished Swarthmore in debt.

Bock also stated that there is no set end period for the loan replacement and that the college hopes to sustain the increase in scholarships.

“I was happy to hear that the college was making an effort to be conscious of people who have different circumstances. I appreciate [the change] and it fits in well with [the college’s] philosophy,” Michelle Nguyen ’11 said.

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